School fees and redundancy

[bettertimeshope]

Please be kind, I am on the floor with worry and panic.

Our small business has gone into administration making a total of 4 people redundant. A combination of cost of living, covid and non-payment by customers has finally taken its toll.

DH is now out of work and I am working every hour on basic living wage to keep a room over our heads. He is currently looking for any work he can get

DD is in year 11 at an independent school. Bluntly we can no longer afford the fees; our tiny savings pot will go towards living costs. We have a meeting with the school owner tomorrow to discuss options but frankly fees are bottom of our priorities even with cutting everything else back to the bare bone.

Am wondering if anyone has any thoughts or advice on how to approach discussions regarding way forward with the school. The timing is horrendous; if it was any other school year I would just pull DD out but she is due to sit her mocks in 2 weeks and suffers from poor MH.

I just don't know how much leniency to expect from the school or what they will suggest.

Speak to the school see if they can help
look at all bills and cull what you can
Get DH cv up to date and get registered to job sites and so on asap.

I would suggest getting DH to sort all this whilst you are working as you really need to be a team on this.

Personally I would prioritise child in school for now, even if it meant carrying debt going forward.

Speak to Mortgage people about a holiday but remember this has an impact down the line

Look at how to cut other costs such as phones, going out, food bills etc.

If just on your salary are you entitled to any other benefits in the short term.

In terms of the small business have you looked at debt factoring and clawing back whatever you can? Not sure if you are limited or not and how liable you are for any of the costs etc

Thank you, this information is so helpful.
DH has a very strained relationship with his parents but given the circumstances I will try and encourage him to ask them to help. He will hate it but it's worth a go.

If your car is an expensive one could you swap it out for a cheaper runaround? Could you continue to work with your clients as a sole trader? Your DH needs to get a job - any job - and then reassess once the wolf is driven back a little from your door. Can you take a mortgage holiday? Beg or borrow from a relative? I agree with everyone else that no child should have to change school 6 months before GCSEs.

Seeing the update, go and beg his parents for some help.

Check whether you are eligible for any Universal credit which is worked out in real time rather than yearly so if dh has no income now you may qualify.
Check school hardship fund for bursaries etc.
As other have said look into a mortgage break or put other stuff on zero % credit cards to get through the next few months.
Ask family to help if that is an option.

Keep her in year 11. Be upfront with them. Ask for a payment plan. Do whatever you can to keep her in those last few months.

If you look at the school accounts online then you should be able to see how much money your school sets aside for scholarships and bursaries each year. There may also be an amount that they have awarded in short term financial assistance, our school awarded over 60k in short term financial assistance last year. This is used to help families is exactly the sort of situation you have found yourself in. I would have a quick look online and if they do usually spend money on this then you are likely to be covered until the end if the year.

Our car is worth more to us than anything we could sell it for (not much!)
I have applied for UC and we are meeting an advisor at the job centre next week. Mortgage on interest only for 6 months.

DH is currently up to his eyes in dealing with the insolvency. He knows he needs to sort CV out but is mentally burnt out and probably only capably of taking on warehouse/factory work as a temporary measure. Thankfully he is physically fit and capable of working long shifts.

I am really sorry, OP.

Emergency hardship funds are worth exploring
Longer term interest free payment plan (I had to negotiate one of these during lockdown, when my income disappeared overnight)
Are there any jobs going at your DD's school? Some schools give quite significant fee discounts to all members of staff (not just teaching staff - canteen, garden, cleaning staff etc)
DH's parents are the best solution if possible, though I understand your reluctance (I couldn't ask mine)
Educational charities (some are quite obscure and depend on the nature of your and DH's work/background/religion/location)

Absolutely keep her there until the end of Y11. As a PP says, you're stuck with fees for next term whatever happens, so it's "only" one more term on top of that. I was still paying for schools after my children had left school...

Literally just before all this kicked off we had a meeting with the Head to discuss DD staying for 6th form. She is very talented in performing arts and we were told that for certain "talented" students they would be given a golden handshake to stay on. Theory being it would be a loss leader to attract future future students.

That is as far as the discussion went at the time and we were very clear that unless the place was 100% funded, she wouldn't stay.

Nothing was finalised and obviously circumstances have shift dramatically but am wondering if that position might be helpful in negotiating the rest of this year.

I'd really hope that no school would kick a student out half way through Year 11. Fingers crossed they are able to offer you a bursary or payment plan when you meet.

Are there any other family members that you could ask for help?

Are/were you part of any industry bodies that might have a hardship fund for members? Any business equipment that you can sell?

I’d start with contacting the school.
They often have lower fees for people below a certain income. Some have bursaries etc….

Start there so you have an idea of how much it would cost.

That sounds quite optimistic. I really hope tomorrows meeting goes well and you get some reassurance on what will happen next. It must be very worrying for you all, especially your daughter.

The only circumstances under which the school are likely not to want to help you is if their own finances are really tight. They will help if they can, especially if she has been at the school for a few years. But unless they have very deep pockets for a hardship fund (and some do!) then she may need to leave at the end of the year. And they will expect you to have asked grandparents too, so do talk to them even if you don't think they will help you.

Do you have decent sixth form college options near you? You might feel better if you have a plan for what happens next.

Don't be embarrassed to ask the school for help in the meantime: most schools actually care about their pupils, and they will have seen it all before.

Xpost.

Yes get back to them and explain what’s going on.
If she talented enough that they were proposing a place fir her in the first place, they might be open fir this year too.

The school can possibly help with a bursary. If not (or if only partial) then it’ll be a case of beg, borrow and sell everything you can to get her through to the end of year 11. The school may also be willing to allow delayed payments/a payment plan.

Trim the budget until there nothing left. Sell all old clothes and jewellery. Take a second/third job if you can find one.

I would ask the school if there is any help at all that they can give you , bursary, or any charities they know of that can help.

DD needs to be prepared to move after Y11, but the school should help you to keep her there for these last few months. If they do want her to stay on, then maybe they will help you now

I was going to say similar. Please contact the school and ask to speak with someone.

A friend of mine was made redundant when his son was in Year 6 of a private school that went through to age 18, but due to his results the school didn't want to lose him and gave him a bursary that saw him all the way through to Year 13.

Given the short amount of time left in your DD's schooling, hopefully they'll be able to cover her with a bursary, then, depending on her results, might offer a full bursary for A levels if she wants to stay on.

Please don't feel embarrassed about this. I know a few people that had to set up alternative payment arrangements with their childrens' schools due to changes in their financial circumstances.

I hope you can get it sorted for DD. However as you’ve only made 1 monthly payment (Sept) for Y11 from 12 does mean there’s a lot outstanding, including fees for this term still owed.
Genuinely I hope the school can help, but effectively you are asking for almost a full years worth of fees.

Is there a professional/occupational/alumni type benevolent fund that could help your DH? When DDad had to give up work through ill health, we (I'm one of 4 children) were helped by The Solicitors' Benevolent Fund. I don't know how that was assessed. We didn't have school fees to cover.

Something similarish has happened to a girl at my DD's extremely expensive school - parents are divorcing, the father has stopped paying the school fees whilst they go through what is looking like it will be a very drawn out and acrimonious financial settlement process, and has cut off the mother's access to money (all savings were in his name). The mother has been very upfront with the school about how she's using savings to put food on the table, and can't afford to pay the fees, and the school are waiving fees for the remainder of the school year to allow DD's friend to complete her GCSEs.

Please make sure you hand in notice in plenty of time. Remember you will also need to factor in the costs for the exams themselves. It is probably going to be 10-11k total by my reckoning. I think you should just speak to them honestly. They are used to this and if historically you have paid promptly they have no reason to doubt you if you say you will pay £300 a month for now. Remember also that you will have paid a deposit which can go against your bill.

Good luck, Op, it's an awful situation to be in. I think that you also need to consider that your DD might have to do her A levels elsewhere and start making choices. I hope that I am wrong.

Not a fan of private education at all, but for your dd's sake, I hope that you're able to find a solution. If the school is half-way decent, they will find a way of enabling her to stay until the end of the school year.

Can you use the mortgage charter to immediately change your mortgage to interest only or to extend the term to reduce the monthly payments?

Yes I would do whatever you can to pay the fees now - you can sign up to a baby sitting app locally and babysit most evenings or weekends, sell whatever you can at home on fb market place, and borrow from family if you can